Printing industry mental health advocate and founder of Man Anchor, Steven Gamble, recently ran a four-hour Communicating with Care program for members of suppliers association, Visual Connections.
The course is designed to help people learn how to support and effectively communicate with family, friends and colleagues who may be experiencing stress, distress or be in a crisis.
Gamble says delivering the program via Zoom to Visual Connections’ members across the country over two days was his way of giving back to the association after he was given the opportunity to talk about mental health and Man Anchor at a breakfast session during PrintEx in Sydney last year.
Tickets to the breakfast session raised over $3000 for Man Anchor which Gamble runs while also being the National Sales Manager for Bottcher Australia.
Having effective communication skills is critically important, but Gamble says at this time with mental illness on the rise as uncertainty continues due to COVID-19 it has never been more important.
“We had a fantastic response to the Visual Connections course. It was really well received and it was a wonderful feeling to be able to give back to the printing industry,” Gamble told Sprinter.
Man Anchor runs a number of different mental health first aid courses in companies large and small in all sectors, including the printing industry.
Gamble is a passionate advocate for mental health and suicide prevention and gives his top tips on how to communicate with care below:
- Leave judgement at the door
- Keep your unconscious bias in check
- Listen actively and give minimal responses
- Give the individual time to contemplate their own feelings
- Understanding your tone of voice and body language
- Question your understanding of empathy
Gamble says it is often the case that a colleague, friend or family member may never have expressed how they are feeling ever before so they need space and time to talk about it.
“They need to be allowed space in silence so they can sit and contemplate what emotions they are feeling and then think about how they can articulate them,” Gamble said.
“A lot of the time they may never have verbalised to anyone what they are feeling or if they are in a crisis they could be overwhelmed, so it is about taking time and letting the person feel and let them articulate how they feel.
“As individuals we don’t have all the answers but as family members, friends and colleagues we can be there to support them and listen. For someone who is in a crisis or is stressed or distressed being able to unpack what is going on can be a great way to work out a solution or work out a way to better cope.
“As humans we like to be able to fix people.
“We never like to see anyone in pain but if we pulled the reins up a little bit and thought we are not here to fix, we are here to support and a really easy way to support someone is to be there to listen. This will really contribute to the person becoming well or finding a solution.”
If you are interested in running or attending a mental health workshop with Man Anchor, please get in touch online at www.mananchor.com.au/ or here email Steven direct on steven@mananchor.com.au.
If you have been triggered by this article or would like to access some assistance around mental health, please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline 13 11 14 https://www.lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 65 94 67 www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36 www.beyondblue.org.au/home
Men’s Line 1300 78 99 78 www.mensline.org.au
1800RESPECT -Domestic Violence 1800 73 77 32 and Sexual Assault www.1800respect.org.au
Kids Help Line (5-25y) – 1800 55 1800 www.kidshelpline.com.au
Q-Life 1800 184 527 https://qlife.org.au
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